Bridstow (St. Bridget)

BRIDSTOW (St. Bridget), a parish, in the union of Ross, Lower division of the hundred of Wormelow, county of Hereford, 1¼ mile (W. N. W.) from Ross; containing 625 inhabitants. Wilton Castle, the ruins of which constitute an interesting object on the western bank of the Wye, in the neighbourhood, was the baronial residence of the noble family of Grey, who assumed their title from this place: it was burnt by order of the royalist governor of Hereford, during the parliamentary war, and the walls are now overspread with ivy. The parish is bounded on the east by the river, which is here crossed by a bridge leading to Ross; and consists of 2196 acres, exclusively of 2 acres, extraparochial, on which stand the ruins of the castle. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 3. 11½., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Hereford. The tithes here payable to the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol have been commuted for £118. 6. 8.; those to the Bishop of Hereford, for £236. 16. 4.; and the vicarial for £230. 12. The glebe consists of 52 acres.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, 7th edition, published in 1848.